I intake 3-4 grams of fish oil daily. I recommend the same for most adults. I do not take any other dietary supplements or multi-vitamins, as a diet rich in lean meat and fresh fruits and vegetables provides all the remaining nutrition my body needs. Dr. Barry Sears said of fish oil, “It’s as close to a miracle drug as I’ll ever see in my lifetime.” I agree. Below is a very concise explanation of why. If you wish to read a more exhaustive explanation I recommend the Wikipedia articles on omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil, or reading the references I have linked.
Fish oil, which includes Cod-liver oil, is a significant source of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These fatty acids have numerous, documented health benefits: improved cholesterol balance, reduced inflammation, increased blood flow, reduced rates of heart disease and atherosclerosis, better immune system function, improved brain function, improvement in psychiatric disorders, and prevention of cancers (particularly breast, colon, and prostate). Improved blood flow and reduced inflammation are of particular interest to athletes. This enables an athlete to train harder and recover quicker.
Even for the non-athlete, the benefits of fish oil are profound. Including the benefits listed above, studies have shown that fish oil can cause weight loss and improved body composition even when supplementing a very poor diet. I advise everyone to eat a diet rich in lean meat, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, with as little starch and refined sugar as possible. However, if you simply refuse to change your diet then I highly recommend you take fish oil. It’s super easy and will go a long way towards counteracting those McDonald’s extra value meals.
The only significant negative effect of fish oil is that when taken in large doses and combined with drugs like aspirin, it can cause increased bleeding. This doesn’t mean you will bleed out from a paper cut, but it could be significant if you incurred a life-threatening injury. This would probably only happen in rare circumstances where you take an extremely large dose and combine that with an anti-coagulant like Aspirin and suffer life-threatening bleeding. I think the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Below is a 15-minute video by Barry Sears on the benefits of fish oil, including his results treating Manuel Uribe. Manuel was the heaviest man on earth at over 1200 pounds. Eighteen months after adhering to a Zone diet and supplementing with extremely high doses of fish oil he had lost 400 pounds and had the blood chemistry and resting heart rate of a well-trained athlete. He currently continues his multi-year path to a normal body weight using the Zone and fish oil. Dr. Sears begins discussing fish oil about 3 minutes into the video.
Video links:
Yeah, but is it as good as Centrum Silver or those little packets of horse feed that they sell at GNC? Ha ha!
I take about 3g a day right now. Luckily, I’ve avoided the legendary fish burps that I’ve heard so much about. I’ve heard that storing them in the freezer gets rid of the burps, though.
Any thoughts on good brands (both quality-wise and cost-wise)? I get the double or triple strength purity capsules from Sam’s right now (Member’s Mark brand), depending on what’s available. Concerning EPA/DHA content, they’re only about 15 cents/gram as opposed to 10 cents/gram (after tax) for the single strength capsules. This allows me to take fewer pills and consume much less useless filler. That’s worth an extra 15-20 cents a day to me.
Also, is it recommended to spread the intake over the day, or is it acceptable to take all of it at once? I generally take half in the morning and half at night.
Good video. Great post!
Adam, my research concluded that any readily available fish oil in a popular super market is going to be of acceptable quality. I haven’t compared the potency of EPA/DHA doses by brand. We get what is available at our supermarket and I don’t worry about it. I am also unconcerned with burps. Sometimes I burp and can taste fish, but to me this is analogous to driving past roadkill: mildly unpleasant, but not so bothersome that it’s going to change the way I operate.
I spread my intake over the course of the day. I do not know if loading up is better.
Hiatal hernias can make fish burps a bit annoying. Storing the capsules in the freezer didn’t make much of a difference for me, you’re experience may be different. I’ve found that taking the capsule before eating helps and never wash them down with coffee. Big mistake. I take mine all at once, no way I’ll remember to take them multiple times a day.
Patrick, I had a small hiatal hernia about a year ago. I’m not sure if it persists, but my symptoms went away. Good advice on the burps.
There is a difference between fish oil and cod liver oil. All cod liver oil is fish oil, not all fish oil is cod liver oil.